Miniver Cheevy Figurative Language

Thinking about the future or past instead of your own life can lead to you not having a life at all. In “Miniver Cheevy”, Miniver, who is a character in the poem, wants to live in the past. He feels that he was born in the wrong time-period and, it occupies all of his time. We get this message from the poem by interpreting it. In “Miniver Cheevy”, the author uses form, figurative language, and sound devices so show the meaning of needing to live your life instead of thinking about what you cannot have. First, the form of the poem contributes to the meaning of the poem. There is no setting, so it is a lyric poem. This adds to the flow and musical quality of the poem. There is also a rhyme scheme of abab, giving the poem end rhyme. The poem’s form is blank verse. All of these qualities add to the flow of the poem and allow you to interpret that there is deeper meaning behind the story than what is shown.

There is a lot of imagery in the poem, showing he is thinking about something that is not there, yet he can picture it. For example, “swords were bright and steeds were prancing” shows he is thinking about the past because of his word choice of ‘were’(6) He is also implying that things were better in the past because he caused us to see bright swords and prancing steeds, which is a good sight. Another form of figurative language is allusion. “Thebes and Camelot” are used to show strong kingdoms that were of the past (11). Using figurative language, the author shows that Miniver thinks that the past is